ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 TAG: 9611200027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
After leading his team to a third consecutive .500 or better season, Washington and Lee football coach Frank Miriello on Tuesday was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in a vote of his peers.
Miriello, in his second year as the Generals' coach, led his team to a 5-5 record after losing 22 seniors and 12 starters from last season's squad. W&L also lost many of its top offensive and defensive players to injury in midseason. Nevertheless, the team won four of its last five games.
The ODAC's all-conference team released Tuesday also is a testament to Miriello's staff. Cornerback John Benazzi was the Generals' only first-team selection. Second-teamers included: record-shattering quarterback Brooks Fischer, tight end Jon Gardner, center Stefan Neumeister, kicker Matt Holbrook, and brothers Jack and McGuire Boyd, a defensive end and linebacker, respectively.
Other local players on the team included Emory & Henry linebacker Andy Dewease (William Byrd High School) and Hampden-Sydney defensive back Tony Joyce (Roanoke Catholic).
In other sports news in the region:
* The Virginia men's soccer team (16-2-3) will make its 16th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament when it plays host to George Mason in a first-round game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. George Mason (13-5-3) defeated the Cavaliers 3-0 earlier this season.
* There was another new boys' basketball coach when practice opened last week. Kevin Johnson was hired to replace the late Jim Young at Magna Vista.
Johnson played for Young at Drewry Mason. Johnson was a member of the 1982 Drewry Mason team that won the first of three Group A boys' titles under Young, who was killed in a traffic accident this fall.
He also worked with Young at Magna Vista, coaching the junior varsity team before finishing as an assistant varsity coach in 1993-94. When hired by Magna Vista, he was not coaching.
Young won 259 games and four state titles during his career at Drewry Mason and Magna Vista. He was undefeated in state tournament play with a 9-0 record.
Mel Cartwright Sr., a veteran coach who for years worked with Husky Hall at Martinsville before moving on to Magna Vista, agreed to remain as an assistant to Johnson. However, he was injured during a practice session when a player ran into him while running a drill. Cartwright remains hospitalized with a broken wrist and a broken hip. He hopes to return in January.
* VMI has been picked to win the Southern Conference wrestling title by the league's coaches. The Keydets garnered four of six first-place votes and finished with 34 total votes. Appalachian State, last year's champion, and UT-Chattanooga tied for second with 27 votes. Each received one first-place vote. League newcomer UNC Greensboro was selected fourth (17), followed by The Citadel (15) and Davidson (6).
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB